warren-johnstone

Wallace and Gromit operate a humane pest-control outfit, 'Anti-Pesto' and with only days to go before the annual Giant Vegetable Competition, business is booming. But Wallace & Gromit are finding out that running a 'humane' pest control outfit has its drawbacks as their West Wallaby Street home fills to the brim with captive rabbits. Suddenly, a huge mysterious veg-ravaging 'beast' begins attacking the town's sacred vegetable plots at night, and the competition hostess, Lady Tottington, commissions Anti-Pesto to catch it and save the day.

It was great to see Wallace & Gromit in a full length movie and as usual, the characters were fantastic, interesting and funny. The plot was simple enough to ensure that children could understand and maintain interest. There were also some cleaver links to previous W&G adventures and some subtle jokes for adults.

Charlie (Highmore) is a small boy from a poor background who lives with his parents and 4 grandparents in a ramshackle old house. One day the reclusive Willy Wonka (Depp) announces that he will allow five lucky children to tour his chocolate factory and five golden tickets are hidden within Wonka chocolate bars. Charlie manages to find the last golden ticket and along with his grandfather, they commence the tour of the mysterious chocolate factory.

Thankfully, this movie was true to the original story. Depp's mannerisms and voice were prefect as the eccentric and reclusive Wonka and he was the highlight of the movie. With the help of computers, Deep Roy was excellent playing the part of all of the Oompa Loompa's, and the actors playing the roles of the other ticket winners made their characters very dislikeable.

When his father dies, Paul Prior (Matthew Macfadyen), a disillusioned and battle weary war photographer, decides to return home to New Zealand. His brother is caught off-guard by Paul's sudden re appearance after seventeen years away. Reluctantly re-visiting the dilapidated family property, he discovers his fathers old den tucked away in the equipment shed. Paul sets about clearing up and stumbles upon sixteen year-old Celia (Emily Barclay) who has been using the derelict hide-away as a private haven to write her stories and to fuel her dream of living in Europe, far away from the small town she longs to escape.

This seemingly uninteresting story-line masks a superb plot that slowly unfolds as the movie progresses. The characters are fantastic and the performances of Barclay, MacFadyen and the supporting cast is excellent. The subtle twists are very well hidden and the final explanation of the whole scenario is mind-blowing. In my opinion, this is a must see movie!